Battery-powered motorized window treatment having a service position

ABSTRACT

A battery-powered motorized window treatment for covering at least a portion of a window may be adjusted into a service position to allow for access to at least one battery that is powering the motorized window treatment. A headrail of the motorized window treatment may be adjusted to the service position to allow for easy replacement of the batteries without unmounting the headrail and without requiring tools. The motorized window treatment may comprise brackets having buttons that may be actuated to release the headrail from a locked position, such that the head rail may be rotated into the service position. The headrail easily rotates through a controlled movement into the service position, such that a user only needs one free hand available to move the motorized window treatment into the service position and change the batteries.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a non-provisional application of commonly-assignedU.S. Provisional Application No. 61/451,960, filed Mar. 11, 2011, andU.S. Provisional Application No. 61/530,799, filed Sep. 2, 2011, andU.S. Provisional Application No. 61/547,319, filed Oct. 14, 2011, allentitled MOTORIZED WINDOW TREATMENT, the entire disclosures of which arehereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a motorized window treatment, and morespecifically, to a battery-powered motorized window blind system havinga service position to allow for easy removal and installation ofbatteries.

2. Description of the Related Art

Motorized window treatments typically include a flexible fabric or othermeans for covering a window in order to block or limit the daylightentering a space and to provide privacy. The motorized window treatmentsmay comprise roller shades, cellular shades, Roman shades, Venentianblinds, and draperies. The motorized window treatments include a motordrive for movement of the fabric in front of the window to control theamount of the window that is covered by the fabric. For example, amotorized roller shade includes a flexible shade fabric wound onto anelongated roller tube with an electronic drive unit installed in theroller tube. The electronic drive unit includes a motor, such as adirect-current (DC) motor, which is operable to rotate the roller tubeupon being energized by a DC voltage.

Prior art electronic drive units are typically powered directly from anAC mains line voltage (e.g., 120 VAC) or from a low-voltage DC voltage(e.g., approximately 24 VDC) provided by an external transformer.Unfortunately, this requires that electrical wires to be run from thepower source to the electronic drive unit. Running additional AC mainline voltage wiring to the electronic drive unit can be very expensive,due to the cost of the additional electrical wiring as well as the costof installation. Typically, installing new AC main line voltage wiringrequires a licensed electrician to perform the work. In addition, if thepre-existing wiring runs behind a fixed ceiling or wall (e.g., onecomprising plaster or expensive hardwood), the electrician may need tobreach the ceiling or wall to install the new electrical wiring, whichwill thus require subsequent repair. In some installations where lowFvoltage (e.g., from a low-voltage DC transformer) is used to the powerthe electronic drive unit, the electrical wires have been mounted on anexternal surface of a wall or ceiling between the electronic drive unitand the transformer, which is plugged into an electrical receptacle.However, this sort of installation requires the permanent use of one ofthe outlets of the electrical receptacle and is aesthetically unpleasingdue to the external electrical wires.

Therefore, some prior art motorized window treatments have been batterypowered, such that the motorized window treatments may be installedwithout requiring any additional wiring. Examples of prior artbattery-powered motorized window treatments are described in greaterdetail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,480, issued Mar. 16, 1999, entitled WINDOWCOVERING WITH HEAD RAIL-MOUNTED ACTUATOR; U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,646,issued Nov. 23, 2009, entitled REMOTELY-CONTROLLED BATTERYPOWERED-WINDOW COVERING HAVING POWER SAVING RECEIVER; and U.S. Pat. No.7,389,806, issued Jun. 24, 2008, entitled MOTORIZED WINDOW SHADE SYSTEM;the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

However, the typical prior art battery-powered motorized windowtreatments have suffered from poor battery life (such as, one year orless), and have required batteries that are difficult and expensive toreplace. Thus, there is a need for a low-cost battery-powered motorizedwindow treatment that has longer battery life and makes battery powerpractical and convenient for the end user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a low-cost, quiet, battery-poweredmotorized window treatment for controlling the position of a coveringmaterial that is adapted to hang in front of an opening, such as awindow. The motorized window treatment is powered by batteries that arenot expensive to replace and have a much longer (and more practical)lifetime than the typical prior art battery-powered motorized windowtreatment (e.g., approximately three years). The batteries are locatedinside a headrail of the motorized window treatment and thus out of viewof a user of the motorized window treatment. The headrail may beadjusted to a service position to provide access to the batteries toallow for easy replacement of the batteries without unmounting theheadrail. No tools are required to move the motorized window treatmentinto the service position, and the headrail easily rotates through acontrolled movement into the service position. The user only needs onefree hand available to move the motorized window treatment into theservice position and change the batteries, such that the other hand maybe used to balance the user, for example, by holding onto a ladder.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a battery-poweredmotorized window treatment is adapted to be mounted to a surface forcovering at least a portion of a window and may be adjusted into aservice position to allow for access to at least one battery that ispowering the motorized window treatment. The motorized window treatmentcomprises a covering material, a motor drive unit adapted to control thecovering material between a fully-opened and a fully-closed position, aheadrail adapted to be disposed near the top of the opening (such thatthe covering material descends from the headrail), and at least onemounting bracket for coupling the headrail to the surface. The head railincludes a compartment for receiving the at least one battery forpowering the motor drive unit. The mounting bracket remains coupled tothe surface and the headrail remains coupled to the mounting bracketwhen the motorized window treatment is in the service position.

In addition, a mounting bracket for a motorized window treatment that isadapted to be mounted to a surface and includes a covering materialadapted to hang from a headrail to cover at least a portion of a windowis also described herein. The mounting bracket comprises a mountingportion adapted to be fastened to the surface, and a rotating portionthat is coupled to a topside of the headrail and comprises a clipadapted to be coupled to a bottom side of the headrail. The mountingbracket further comprises an axle for rotatably coupling the rotatingportion to the mounting portion, such that the rotating portion pivotsabout the axle with respect to the mounting portion. The axle is locatedbelow the clip of the rotating portion, such that the center of gravityof the headrail is adapted to cause the headrail to rotate away from thewindow on its own.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, abattery-powered motorized window treatment comprises: (1) a coveringmaterial for the window; (2) a motor drive unit adapted to control thecovering material between a fully-opened and fully-closed position; (3)a head rail from which the covering material descends, for dispositionacross the top of the window, the head rail including a space forreceiving at least one battery for powering the motor drive unit. Thehead rail has a mechanism for allowing the rail to move outwardly awayfrom the window and tilt downwardly to expose the space to allow the atleast one battery to be installed or removed.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description of the invention that refers tothe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in greater detail in the followingdetailed description with reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a motorized window treatment systemhaving a battery-powered motorized window treatment and a remote controlaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the battery-powered motorized windowtreatment of FIG. 1 in a full-opened position;

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the battery-powered motorized windowtreatment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the battery-powered motorized window treatmentof FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a motor drive unit of themotorized window treatment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6A is a perspective view of the motorized window treatment of FIG.1 as the motorized window treatment is being moved to a service positionaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6B is a right side view of the motorized window treatment of FIG. 1as the motorized window treatment is being moved to the service positionaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the motorized window treatment of FIG.1 when the motorized window treatment is in the service positionaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7B is a right side view of the motorized window treatment of FIG. 1when the motorized window treatment is in the service position accordingto the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of one end of the motorizedwindow treatment of FIG. 1 showing how a screw is received in a channelof an endcap of the motorized window treatment;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a motorized window treatment as themotorized window treatment is being moved to a service positionaccording to an alternate embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the motorized window treatment of FIG.8 when the motorized window treatment is in the service positionaccording to the alternate embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11A is a perspective view of a motorized window treatment havingmounting brackets for rotating the motorized window treatment into aservice position according to a third embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 11B is a right side view of the motorized window treatment of FIG.11A;

FIG. 12A is a perspective view of the motorized window treatment of FIG.11A in the service position according to the third embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 12B is a right side view of the motorized window treatment of FIG.11A in the service position according to the third embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 13A is an enlarged perspective view of one of the mounting bracketsof the motorized window treatment of FIG. 11A in a locked position;

FIG. 13B is an enlarged perspective view of the mounting bracket of FIG.13A in the service position;

FIG. 14A is a top view of one of the mounting brackets of FIG. 13A inthe locked position showing a latch mechanism in greater detail;

FIG. 14B is a top view of the mounting bracket of FIG. 13A as a releasebutton is being actuated to release mounting bracket from the lockedposition;

FIGS. 15A and 15B are enlarged perspective views of a mounting bracketfor the motorized window treatment of FIG. 11A shown in a lockedposition and a service position, respectively according to an alternateembodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 16A and 16B are left side cross-sectional views of the mountingbracket of FIGS. 15A and 15B shown in the locked position and theservice position, respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description ofthe preferred embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunctionwith the appended drawings. For the purposes of illustrating theinvention, there is shown in the drawings an embodiment that ispresently preferred, in which like numerals represent similar partsthroughout the several views of the drawings, it being understood,however, that the invention is not limited to the specific methods andinstrumentalities disclosed.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a motorized window treatment system 100having a battery-powered motorized window treatment 110 mounted in anopening 102, for example, in front of a window 104 according to anembodiment of the present invention. The battery-powered motorizedwindow treatment 110 comprises a covering material, for example, acellular shade fabric 112 as shown in FIG. 1. The cellular shade fabric112 has a top end connected to a headrail 114 (that extends between twomounting plates 115) and a bottom end connected to a weighting element116. The mounting plates 115 may be connected to the sides of theopening 102 as shown in FIG. 1, such that the cellular shade fabric 112is able to hang in front of the window 104, and may be adjusted betweena fully-open position P_(FULLY-OPEN) and a fully-closed positionP_(FULLY-CLOSED) to control the amount of daylight entering a room orspace. Alternatively, the mounting plates 115 of the battery-poweredmotorized window treatment 110 could be mounted externally to theopening 102 (e.g., above the opening) with the shade fabric 112 hangingin front of the opening and the window 104. In addition, thebattery-powered motorized window treatment 110 could alternativelycomprise other types of covering materials, such as, for example, aplurality of horizontally-extending slats (i.e., a Venetian or Persianblind system), pleated blinds, a roller shade fabric, or a Roman shadefabric. The motorized window treatment system 100 comprises an infrared(IR) remote control 118 for controlling the operation of the motorizedwindow treatment 110.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view and FIG. 3 is a right side view of thebattery-powered motorized window treatment 110 with the cellular shadefabric 112 in the fully-open position P_(FULLY-OPEN). The motorizedwindow treatment 110 comprises a motor drive unit 120 for raising andlowering the weighting element 116 and the cellular shade fabric 112between the fully-open position P_(FULLY-OPEN) and the fully-closedposition P_(FULLY-CLOSED). By controlling the amount of the window 104covered by the cellular shade fabric 112, the motorized window treatment110 is able to control the amount of daylight entering the room. Theheadrail 114 of the motorized window treatment 110 comprises an internalside 122 and an opposite external side 124, which faces the window 104that the shade fabric 112 is covering. The motor drive unit 120comprises an actuator 126, which is positioned adjacent the internalside 122 of the headrail 114 may be actuated when a user is configuringthe motorized window treatment 110. The actuator 126 may be made of, forexample, a clear material, such that the actuator may operate as a lightpipe to conduct illumination from inside the motor drive unit 120 tothus be provide feedback to the user of the motorized window treatment110. In addition, the actuator 126 may also function as an IR-receivinglens for directing IR signals transmitted by the IR remote control 118to an IR receiver 166 (FIG. 11) inside the motor drive unit 120. Themotor drive unit 120 is operable to determine a target positionP_(TARGET) for the weighting element 116 in response to commandsincluded in the IR signals received from the remote control 118 and tosubsequently control a present position P_(PRES) of the weightingelement to the target position P_(TARGET). As shown in FIG. 2, a topside 128 of the headrail 114 is open, such that the motor drive unit 120may be positioned inside the headrail and the actuator 126 may protrudeslightly over the internal side 122 of the headrail.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the battery-powered motorized window treatment110 with a front portion of the headrail 114 removed to show the motordrive unit 120. The motorized window treatment 110 comprises lift cords130 that extend from the headrail 114 to the weighting element 116 forallowing the motor drive unit 120 to raise and lower the weightingelement. The motor drive unit 120 includes an internal motor 150 (FIG.11) coupled to drive shafts 132 that extend from the motor on each sideof the motor and are each coupled to a respective lift cord spool 134.The lift cords 130 are windingly received around the lift cord spools134 and are fixedly attached to the weighting element 116, such that themotor drive unit 120 is operable to rotate the drive shafts 132 to raiseand lower the weighting element. The motorized window treatment 110further comprises two constant-force spring assist assemblies 135, whichare each coupled to the drive shafts 132 adjacent to one of the two liftcord spools 134. Each of the lift cord spools 134 and the adjacentconstant-force spring assist assembly 135 are housed in a respectivelift cord spool enclosure 136 as shown in FIG. 4. Alternatively, themotor drive unit 120 could be located at either end of the headrail 114and the motorized window treatment 110 could comprise a single driveshaft that extends along the length of the headrail and is coupled toboth of the lift cord spools 134.

The battery-powered motorized window treatment 110 also comprises aplurality of batteries 138 (e.g., four D-cell batteries), which areelectrically coupled in series. The series-combination of the batteries138 is coupled to the motor drive unit 120 for powering the motor driveunit. The batteries 138 are housed inside the headrail 114 and thus outof view of a user of the motorized window treatment 110. Specifically,the batteries 138 are mounted in two battery holders 139 located insidethe headrail 114, such that there are two batteries in each batteryholder as shown in FIG. 4. According to the embodiments of the presentinvention, the batteries 138 provide the motorized window treatment 110with a practical lifetime (e.g., approximately three years), and aretypical “off-the-shelf” batteries that are easy and not expensive toreplace. Alternatively, the motor drive unit 120 could comprise morebatteries (e.g., six or eight) coupled in series or batteries of adifferent kind (e.g., AA batteries) coupled in series.

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of the motor drive unit 120 of thebattery-powered motorized window treatment 110. The motor drive unit 120comprises a controller 152 for controlling the operation of the motor150, which may comprise, for example, a DC motor. The controller 152 maycomprise, for example, a microprocessor, a programmable logic device(PLD), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or any suitableprocessing device or control circuit. The controller 152 is coupled toan H-bridge motor drive circuit 154 for driving the motor 150 via a setof drive signals V_(DRIVE) to control the weighting element 116 and thecellular shade fabric 112 between the fully-open position P_(FULLY-OPEN)and the fully-closed position P_(FULLY-CLOSED). The controller 152 isoperable to rotate the motor 150 at a constant rotational speed bycontrolling the H-bridge motor drive circuit 154 to supply a pulse-widthmodulated (PWM) drive signal having a constant duty cycle to the motor.The controller 152 is able to change the rotational speed of the motor150 by adjusting the duty cycle of the PWM signal applied to the motorand to change the direction of rotation of the motor by changing thepolarity of the PWM drive signal applied to the motor.

The controller 152 receives information regarding the rotationalposition and direction of rotation of the motor 150 from a rotationalposition sensor, such as, for example, a transmissive optical sensorcircuit 156. The rotational position sensor may also comprise othersuitable position sensors, such as, for example, Hall-effect, optical orresistive sensors. The controller 152 is operable to determine arotational position of the motor 150 in response to the transmissiveoptical sensor circuit 156, and to use the rotational position of themotor to determine a present position P_(PRES) of the weighting element116. The controller 152 may comprise an internal non-volatile memory (oralternatively, an external memory coupled to the controller) for storageof the present position P_(PRES) of the shade fabric 112, the fully openposition P_(FULLY-OPEN), and the fully closed position P_(FULLY-CLOSED).The operation of the H-bridge motor drive circuit 154 and the use ofsensor devices to track the direction and speed of the motor drive unit120 is described in greater detail in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No.5,848,634, issued Dec. 15, 1998, entitled MOTORIZED WINDOW SHADE SYSTEM,and commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,267, issued Dec. 24, 2002,entitled MOTORIZED WINDOW SHADE WITH ULTRAQUIET MOTOR DRIVE AND ESDPROTECTION, the entire disclosures of which are herein incorporated byreference.

As previously mentioned, the motor drive unit 120 receives power fromthe series-coupled batteries 138, which provide a battery voltageV_(BATT). For example, the batteries 138 may comprise D-cell batterieshaving rated voltages of approximately 1.5 volts, such that the batteryvoltage V_(BATT) has a magnitude of approximately 6 volts. The H-bridgemotor drive circuit 154 receives the battery voltage V_(BATT) fordriving the motor 150. The motor drive unit 120 further comprises apower supply 158 (e.g., a linear regulator) that receives the batteryvoltage V_(BATT) and generates a DC supply voltage V_(CC) (e.g.,approximately 3.3 volts) for powering the controller 152 and otherlow-voltage circuitry of the motor drive unit.

The motor drive unit 120 comprises an internal temperature sensor 160that is located adjacent the internal side 122 of the headrail 114(i.e., a room-side temperature sensor), and a external temperaturesensor 162 that is located adjacent the external side 124 of theheadrail (i.e., a window-side temperature sensor). The room-sidetemperature sensor 160 is operable to measure an interior temperatureT_(INT) inside the room in which the motorized window treatment 110 isinstalled, while the external temperature sensor 162 is operable tomeasure an exterior temperature T_(EXT) between the headrail 114 and thewindow 104. The motor drive unit 120 further comprises a photosensor164, which is located adjacent the external side 124 of the headrail114, and is directed to measure the amount of sunlight that may beshining on the window 104. Alternatively, the exterior (window-side)temperature sensor 162 may be implemented as a sensor label (external tothe headrail 114 of the battery powered motorized window treatment 110)that is operable to be affixed to an inside surface of a window. Thesensor label may be coupled to the motor drive unit 120 through lowvoltage wiring (not shown).

The controller 152 receives inputs from the internal temperature sensor160, the external temperature sensor 162, the photosensor 164, and theIR receiver 166. The controller 152 may operate in an eco-mode tocontrol the position of the weighting element 116 and the cellular shadefabric 112 in response to the internal temperature sensor 160, theexternal temperature sensor 162, and the photosensor 164, so as toprovide energy savings. When operating in the eco-mode, the controller152 adjusts the amount of the window 104 covered by the cellular shadefabric 112 to attempt to save energy, for example, by reducing theamount of electrical energy consumed by other control systems in thebuilding in which the motorized window treatment 110 is installed. Forexample, the controller 152 may adjust the present position P_(PRES) ofthe weighting element 116 to control the amount of daylight entering theroom in which the motorized window treatment 110 is installed, such thatlighting loads in the room may be turned off or dimmed to thus saveenergy. In addition, the controller 152 may adjust the present positionP_(PRES) of the weighting element 116 to control the heat flow throughthe window 104 in order to lighten the load on the heating,air-conditioning, and ventilation (HVAC) system in the building in whichthe motorized window treatment 110 is installed.

A user of the window treatment system 100 is able to adjust the positionof the weighting element 116 and the cellular shade fabric 112 by usingthe remote control 118 to transmit commands to the motor drive unit 120via the IR signals. The IR receiver 166 receives the IR signals andprovides an IR data control signal V_(IR-DATA) to the controller 152,such that the controller is operable to receive the commands from theremote control 118. The controller 152 is operable to put the IRreceiver 166 to sleep (i.e., disable the IR receiver) and toperiodically wake the IR receiver up (i.e., enable the IR receiver) viaan IR enable control signal V_(IR-EN), as will be described in greaterdetail below. An example of an IR control system is described in greaterdetail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,545,434, issued Apr. 8, 2003, entitledMULTI-SCENE PRESET LIGHTING CONTROLLER, the entire disclosure of whichis hereby incorporated by reference. Alternatively, the IR receiver 166could comprise a radio-frequency (RF) receiver or transceiver forreceiving RF signals transmitted by an RF remote control. Examples of RFcontrol systems are described in greater detail in commonly-assignedU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/033,223, filed Feb. 19, 2008,entitled COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL FOR A RADIO-FREQUENCY LOAD CONTROLSYSTEM, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/415,084 filed Mar. 8,2012, entitled MOTORIZED WINDOW TREATMENT, the entire disclosures ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

To allow the user to change the batteries 138 when needed, the motorizedwindow treatment 110 is operable to be adjusted to a service position,in which the open top of the headrail 114 is positioned to allow foreasy access to the batteries. FIG. 6A is a perspective view and FIG. 6Bis a right side view of the motorized window treatment 110 as themotorized window treatment is being moved to the service positionaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7A is aperspective view and FIG. 7B is a right side view of the motorizedwindow treatment 110 when the motorized window treatment is in theservice position according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention. The motorized window treatment 110 comprises two endcaps 170located at each side of the headrail 114. The endcaps 170 each comprisea channel 172, which receives a screw 174 (i.e., a protuberance or pin)that extends through an opening 175 (FIG. 8) in the adjacent mountingbracket 115. FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of one end of themotorized window treatment 110 showing how the screw 174 is received inthe channel 172 of the endcap 170. When the motorized window treatment110 is in a normal position (as shown in FIG. 3), each screw 174 restsin an end 176 of the respective channel 172, such that the headrail 114is held in position between the mounting brackets 115 and the shadefabric 112 hangs vertically below the headrail.

When the batteries 138 need to be accessed, the headrail 114 may belifted up by a user, such that the screws 174 are no longer positionedin the respective ends 176 and may travel through the channels 172 asshown in FIG. 6B. Each screw 172 may then come to rest in an elbow 178of the respective channel 172 as shown in FIG. 7B, such that themotorized window treatment 110 is in the service position. When in theservice position, the headrail 114 is operable to pivot about the screws174 in the respective elbows 178 to allow the user to access thebatteries 138 from the top of the headrail. To remove the headrail 114from the mounting brackets 115, the user may lift the headrail 114 tomove the screws 174 through the respective channels 172 and out ofrespective channel openings 179.

Accordingly, the headrail 114 is adapted to be moved down and away fromthe window 104 and into the service position, so that the headrail maythen be tilted to allow the user to access the batteries 138 without theuse of tools. Since the headrail 114 is moved horizontally away from thewindow 104 when in the service position, there is room between theheadrail and the window in which the shade fabric 112 may be locatedwhen the top of the headrail 114 is rotated towards the user.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are perspective views of a motorized window treatment 210according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The motorizedwindow treatment 210 of the second embodiment comprises a headrail 214that may be pulled out in a horizontal direction away from the window104 and then rotated into a service position to allow access to thebatteries 138. The motorized window treatment 210 comprises top mountingbrackets 215 located over the top of the headrail 214, and plates 219that are received in the mounting brackets. The user is operable to pullthe headrail 214 away from the window 104, such that the plates 219slide through the mounting brackets 215 as shown in FIG. 9. The plates219 are then able to pivot with respect to the mounting brackets 215,such that the top of the headrail 214 may be rotated towards the user toallow access to the batteries 138 located in the headrail as shown inFIG. 10.

FIG. 11A is a perspective view and FIG. 11B is a right side view of amotorized window treatment 310 having mounting brackets 370 for rotatingthe motorized window treatment into a service position according to athird embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12A is a perspectiveview and FIG. 12B is a right side view of the motorized window treatment310 when the motorized window treatment 310 is in the service positionaccording to the third embodiment of the present invention. Eachmounting bracket 370 of the motorized window treatment 310 comprises arelease button 372, which may be actuated (e.g., pushed) to release theheadrail 114 from a locked position (as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B),such that the headrail 114 may be rotated into the service position andthe batteries 138 may be accessed (as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B). Therelease buttons 372 are located above the headrail 114 and protrudeslightly over the internal side 122 of the headrail, such that thebuttons are partially hidden from view when the motorized windowtreatment 310 is installed. The release buttons 372 may be labeled withappropriate text (such as “push”) to inform the user of the requiredaction to release the motorized window treatment 310 from the lockedposition. The headrail 114 is flexible enough, such that the buttons 372of the mounting brackets 370 may be actuated one at a time in order torelease the headrail from the locked position. Accordingly, no tools arerequired to release the motorized window treatment 310 from the lockedposition to enter the service position. Alternatively, the releasebuttons 372 may be implemented as pull-tabs or the motorized windowtreatment 310 could comprise latches that require tools to be unlatched.

FIG. 13A is an enlarged perspective view of one of the mounting brackets370 in the locked position. FIG. 13B is an enlarged perspective view ofthe mounting bracket 370 in the service position. The mounting bracket370 comprises a fixed mounting portion 374 and a rotating portion 375that is rotatably coupled to the mounting portion 374 via an axle rod376. The mounting portion 374 is adapted to be fastened to a verticalsurface (e.g., a wall) via screws (not shown) received through mountingholes 378 or to be fastened to a horizontal surface (e.g., a ceiling orthe top of an opening) via screws received through mounting holes 379.The rotating portion 374 is adapted to be connected to the headrail 114of the motorized window treatment 310 via a lip 380 and a clip 382.Specifically, the internal side 122 of the headrail 114 is adapted torest on the lip 380 (as shown in FIG. 12A) and the bottom side of theexternal side 124 of the headrail is adapted to snap into the clip 382.When a user actuates the release button 372, the rotating portion 374 isoperable to pivot about the axle rod 376 thus rotating the top of theheadrail 114 towards the user into the service position, such that thebatteries 138 may be accessed.

As shown in FIG. 11B, the axle rod 376 about which the rotating portion374 pivots is located below the headrail 114, such that when themotorized window treatment 310 is released from the locked position, thecenter of gravity of the headrail causes the top of the headrail torotate down on its own (i.e., without the need for the user tophysically rotate the top of the headrail towards the user) with orwithout the batteries 138 installed in the headrail. The axle rod 376 ispositioned above the weighting element 116 (i.e., behind the cellularshade fabric 112) when the motorized window treatment 310 is in thefully-open position P_(FULLY-OPEN), such that the mounting brackets 370cannot be seen by the user.

Each mounting bracket 370 also comprises a coil spring 384, which iswound around the axle rod 376 and comprises an inside leg 385 that ispositioned on the inner side of the rotating portion 375 and an outsideleg (not shown) that is positioned on the outer side of the mountingportion 374. The spring 384 operates to provide a controlled movement ofthe motorized window treatment 310 when the headrail 114 is releasedfrom the locked position and the rotating portion 375 rotates about theaxle rod 376 into the service position. The spring 384 also limits thedistance that the headrail 114 is able to be rotated (e.g., to preventthe batteries 138 from falling out of the headrail). The inside leg 385contacts the rotating portion 375 and the outside leg contacts themounting portion 374 to bias the rotating portion towards the mountingportion. The spring 384 is sized such that the headrail 114 rotates downon its own, but does not rotate so far that the batteries 138 are ableto fall out of the headrail. Since the user may individually actuate thebuttons 372 of the mounting brackets 370 to cause the headrail 114 moveinto the service position, the user only needs one free hand availableto move the motorized window treatment 310 into the service position andchange the batteries 138 (i.e., the other hand may be used to balancethe user, for example, by holding onto a ladder).

Each mounting bracket 370 further comprises a latch mechanism 386coupled to the respective button 372. The latch mechanism 286 locks therotating portion 375 in the locked position, and releases the rotatingportion to allow the headrail 114 to move into the service position inresponse to an actuation of the release button 372. FIG. 14A is a topview of one of the mounting brackets 370 in the locked position showingthe latch mechanism 386 in greater detail. FIG. 14B is a top view of themounting bracket 370 as the release button 372 is being actuated torelease the rotating portion 375 from the locked position. The latchmechanism 386 comprises a notch 388 adapted to contact a locking surface390 (FIG. 13B) of the rotating portion 375 to hold the rotating portionin the locked position. The latch mechanism 386 further comprises anelongated spring member 392 adapted to push against a wall 394 of themounting portion 374 to thus keep the notch 388 locked against thelocking surface 390. When the release button 372 is pushed in towardsthe mounting bracket 370, the latch mechanism 386 rotates about a rivet395, a pin 396 travels through a channel 398 to guide the movement ofthe latch mechanism, and the spring member 392 flexes against the wall394. Accordingly, the notch 388 of the latch mechanism 386 no longercontacts the locking surface 390 of the rotating portion 375, such thatthe rotating portion and the headrail 114 are able to rotate freelyabout the axle rod 376.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are enlarged perspective views of a mounting bracket470 for the motorized window treatment 310 according to an alternateembodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the mounting bracket470 is shown in a locked position in FIG. 15A and in a service positionin FIG. 15B. The mounting bracket 470 comprises a release button 472that may be pushed to release the headrail 114 from the locked position,such that the headrail 114 may be rotated into the service position andthe batteries 138 may be accessed. The mounting bracket 470 comprises afixed mounting portion 474 and a rotating portion 475 that is rotatablycoupled to the mounting portion via an axle rod 476. The mountingportion 474 may be mounted to a vertical surface or a horizontal surfacevia screws (not shown) received through vertical mounting holes 478 orhorizontal mounting holes 479, respectively. The rotating portion 474comprises a lip 480 and a clip 482 for connecting to the headrail 114 ofthe motorized window treatment 310 in a similar manner as the mountingbrackets 370 of the third embodiment. When a user actuates the releasebutton 472, the rotating portion 474 pivots about the axle rod 476 thusrotating the top of the headrail 114 towards the user into the serviceposition, such that the batteries 138 may be accessed.

The mounting portion 474 comprises two spring arms 484 (one of which isshown in FIG. 15B) that contact the rotating portion 475. FIGS. 16A and16B are left side cross-sectional views of the mounting bracket 470taken through the center of the left spring arm 484 with the mountingbracket shown in the locked position and the service position,respectively. The spring arms 484 contact cam portions 485 on therotating portion 475 to provide a controlled movement of the motorizedwindow treatment 310 when the headrail 114 is released from the lockedposition and the rotating portion rotates about the axle rod 476 intothe service position. Alternatively, the rotating portion 475 couldcomprise one or more spring arms for contacting respective cam portionsof the mounting portion 474.

Referring back to FIGS. 15A and 15B, the mounting bracket 470 furthercomprises a latch mechanism 486 that locks the rotating portion 475 inthe locked position, and releases the rotating portion to allow theheadrail 114 to move into the service position in response to anactuation of the release button 472. The latch mechanism 486 comprises anotch 488 and an elongated spring member 492 adapted to push against atab 494 of the mounting portion 474 to hold the notch 488 against alocking surface 490 of the rotating portion 475 to thus hold therotating portion in the locked position. When the release button 472 ispushed in towards the mounting bracket 470, the latch mechanism 486rotates and the spring member 492 flexes against the wall 494 until thenotch 488 no longer contacts the locking surface 490 of the rotatingportion 475 and the rotating portion 475 is able to rotate freely aboutthe axle rod 476.

While the present invention has been described with reference to thebattery-powered motorized window treatment 100 having the cellular shadefabric 112, the concepts of the present invention could be applied toother types of motorized window treatments, such as, for example, Romanshades and Venetian blinds. An example of a Roman shade system isdescribed in greater detail in commonly-assigned U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/784,096, filed Mar. 20, 2010, entitled ROMAN SHADE SYSTEM,the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Anexample of a Venetian blind system is described in greater detail incommonly-assigned U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/384,005,filed Sep. 17, 2010, entitled MOTORIZED VENETIAN BLIND SYSTEM, theentire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Although the present invention has been described in relation toparticular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modificationsand other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It ispreferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by thespecific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A battery-powered motorized window treatmentconfigured to be mounted to a surface for covering at least a portion ofan opening, the motorized window treatment comprising: a coveringmaterial; a motor drive unit configured to control the covering materialbetween a fully-opened and a fully-closed position; a headrailconfigured to be disposed near the top of the opening, such that thecovering material extends from the headrail, the headrail including acompartment for receiving at least one battery for powering the motordrive unit; and at least one mounting bracket for coupling the headrailto the surface; wherein the motorized window treatment is adjustableinto a service position in which access is provided to a top side of theheadrail to provide access to the at least one battery through the topside, the mounting bracket remaining coupled to the surface and theheadrail remaining coupled to the mounting bracket when the motorizedwindow treatment is in the service position.
 2. The motorized windowtreatment of claim 1, where the headrail is adjustable from a firstfixed position into the service position and wherein the mountingbracket remains coupled to the surface and holds the headrail in theservice position, the headrail remaining in the service position withoutuser assistance so that the at least one battery can be removed andreplaced.
 3. The motorized window treatment of claim 1, furthercomprising: a drive shaft located inside the headrail; at least one liftcord rotatably received around the drive shaft and extending to a bottomend of the covering material, such that the lift cord provides a torqueon the drive shaft; a motor drive unit located inside the headrail andhaving a motor coupled to the drive shaft, such that the motor driveunit is operable to raise and lower the covering material by rotatingthe drive shaft.
 4. The motorized window treatment of claim 1, whereinthe top side of the headrail is configured to be rotated away from thewindow in the service position.
 5. The motorized window treatment ofclaim 2, wherein the headrail is configured to be displaced away fromthe window and then to be rotated away from the window.
 6. The motorizedwindow treatment of claim 5, further comprising: two mounting bracketscoupled to endcaps of the headrail, the endcaps of the headrailcomprising channels for receiving pins of the mounting brackets, theheadrail configured to be moved into the service position by causing thepins to travel through the channels.
 7. The motorized window treatmentof claim 6, wherein the pins are configured to rest in elbows of thechannels when the headrail is in the service position.
 8. The motorizedwindow treatment of claim 5, wherein the mounting bracket comprises aplate that slides through the mounting bracket to thus displace theheadrail away from the window.
 9. The motorized window treatment ofclaim 8, wherein the plates are configured to pivot with respect to themounting brackets to rotate the top side of the headrail away from thewindow.
 10. The motorized window treatment of claim 4, wherein themounting bracket comprises a mounting portion configured to be fastenedto the surface and a rotating portion coupled to the top side of theheadrail, the rotating portion configured to pivot about an axle withrespect to the mounting portion to rotate the top side of the headrailaway from the window.
 11. The motorized window treatment of claim 10,wherein the mounting bracket limits the distance that the headrail isable to be rotated.
 12. The motorized window treatment of claim 10,wherein the axle is located below the headrail and adjacent an exteriorside of the headrail, such that the center of gravity of the headrailcauses the headrail to rotate away from the window on its own.
 13. Themotorized window treatment of claim 12, wherein the mounting bracketfurther comprises a spring for biasing the rotating portion towards themounting portion, such that the headrail rotates in a controlledmovement when the motorized window treatment is released from the lockedposition.
 14. The motorized window treatment of claim 12, wherein themounting bracket further comprises a spring for biasing the rotatingportion towards the mounting portion, the spring configured to limit thedistance that the headrail is able to be rotated.
 15. The motorizedwindow treatment of claim 10, wherein the mounting bracket comprises alatch mechanism for holding the motorized window treatment in a lockedposition, and a button coupled to the latch mechanism for releasing themotorized window treatment from the locked position and into the serviceposition in response to an actuation of the button.
 16. The motorizedwindow treatment of claim 15, wherein the button is positioned above theheadrail.
 17. The motorized window treatment of claim 15, wherein thebutton is pushed in towards the headrail to release the motorized windowtreatment from the locked position.